Sun Yat-sen University (; SYSU) is a public university in

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

, Guangdong, China. It is affiliated with the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

, and co-funded by the Ministry of Education, SASTIND, and Guangdong Provincial Government. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Construction. The university was founded in 1924 by and named after

Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-senUsually known as Sun Zhongshan () in Chinese; also known by Names of Sun Yat-sen, several other names. (; 12 November 186612 March 1925) was a Chinese physician, revolutionary, statesman, and political philosopher who founded the Republ ...

, a revolutionary and the founder of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. The university's main campus, commonly referred to as the South Campus, is located in Haizhu, Guangzhou, inheriting the campus from the former

Lingnan University Lingnan University a public research university located in Tuen Mun, New Territories, Hong Kong. Lingnan University has 3 faculties, 3 Schools, 16 departments, 2 language centres, and 2 units (science and music), offering 29 degree honours ...

(est. 1888). The university has five campuses in the three cities of Guangzhou,

Zhuhai Zhuhai; Yale romanization of Cantonese, Yale: ''Jyūhói''; Chinese postal romanization, also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern ...

and

Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...

, and ten affiliated hospitals. The SYSU organised centennial celebration conference on November 12, 2024 where a number of initiatives were announced for the future. Grant Hall 2012

History

Originally, each of the Sun Yat-sen Universities were adopted a statism educational model, () and based on

political philosophy Political philosophy studies the theoretical and conceptual foundations of politics. It examines the nature, scope, and Political legitimacy, legitimacy of political institutions, such as State (polity), states. This field investigates different ...

, present-day Sun Yat-sen University is the result of multiple mergers as well as splits and restructurings that have involved more than a dozen academic institutions over time. The most recent merger happened in 2001, when Sun Yat-sen University of Medical Science merged with Sun Yat-sen University and became Sun Yat-sen College of Medical Science.

Sun Yat-sen University

In 1924,

founded National Kwangtung University () in Canton and inscribed in his own handwriting the school motto of "Study Extensively, Enquire Accurately, Reflect Carefully, Discriminate Clearly, Practise Earnestly." After the death of Sun Yat-sen, the

Nationalist government The Nationalist government, officially the National Government of the Republic of China, refers to the government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China from 1 July 1925 to 20 May 1948, led by the nationalist Kuomintang (KMT ...

that was set up during the first cooperation between the

Communists Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, d ...

and Nationalists formally decreed to change its name to National Sun Yat-sen University () on July 17, 1926, in memory of Sun Yat-sen. In 1926, there were four National Sun Yat-sen Universities: National First Sun Yat-sen University in Canton (the current Sun Yat-sen University), National Second Sun Yat-sen University in

Wuhan Wuhan; is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of over eleven million, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the List of cities in China by population, eighth-most-populous city in China. It is also one of the nine National cent ...

(the current

Wuhan University Wuhan University (WHU; 武汉大学) is a key comprehensive public university in Wuhan, Hubei, China. It is directly affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Ministry of Education of China. The un ...

), National Third Sun Yat-sen University in

Hangzhou Hangzhou, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...

(the current

Zhejiang University Zhejiang University (ZJU) is a public university, public research university in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education (China), Ministry of Education. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and D ...

), National Fourth Sun Yat-sen University in Nanking (the predecessor of the current

Nanjing University Nanjing University (NJU) is a public university in Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. It is affiliated and sponsored by the Ministry of Education. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Construction. The univers ...

, Southeast University, and National Central University). The Nationalist government also planned to organize the National Fifth Sun Yat-sen University in

Zhengzhou Zhengzhou is the capital of Henan, China. Located in northern Henan, it is one of the nine National central city, national central cities in China, and serves as the political, economic, technological, and educational center of the province. Th ...

, but end up naming it as the

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

Provincial Sun Yat-sen University (the current Henan University). In the 1930s, there were seven schools in the University: the Schools of Arts, Sciences, Law, Engineering, Agricultural Studies, Medicine and Education. In 1935, National Sun Yat-sen University, concurrently with National Tsinghua University and National Peking University, set up the first graduate schools in China and began to enroll graduate students. In 1949, the University removed its prefix "National" and has been thereafter referred directly to Sun Yat-sen University (). In the 1950s, colleges, schools and departments were readjusted nationwide, and Sun Yat-sen University became a national top-tier comprehensive university with the liberal arts and sciences as its backbone disciplines.

Sun Yat-sen University of Medical Sciences

One of the predecessors of the Sun Yat-sen University of Medical Science was the Pok Tsai Medical School, which, founded in 1866, was the earliest institution of learning of western medicine in China, where Sun Yat-sen once studied and engaged in revolutionary activities. The Pok Tsai Medical School evolved into the College of Medicine of Lingnan University in 1936. The Kung Yee Medical School and Hospital in

(Canton) was founded in 1908. In 1925, the Kung Yee institutions were taken over by the government and became the Medical Department of the National First Sun Yat-sen (Zhongshan) University. In 1953, the Colleges of Medicine in Sun Yat-sen University and Lingnan University merged to form the College of Medicine of South China, which was joined by the Guangdong Guanghua College of Medicine in 1954. The university was renamed Guangzhou College of Medicine and Sun Yat-sen College of Medical Science successively, and finally Sun Yat-sen University of Medical Science in 1985, which has developed steadfastly into a comprehensive medical university with multi-schools and multiple levels, has reached national advanced level and achieved remarkable successes in scientific research in medical genetics, ophthalmology, tumor study, parasite study, the kidney disease of internal medicine, organ transplant, infectious liver disease, biological medical project and molecular medical science. In 2001, Sun Yat-sen University of Medical Science merged with Sun Yat-sen University and became Sun Yat-sen College of Medical Science.

Lingnan University

Lingnan University () was a

private university Private universities and private colleges are higher education institutions not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. However, they often receive tax breaks, public student loans, and government grants. Depending on the count ...

established by Andrew Happer, MD and a group of American missionaries in Guangzhou in 1888. At its founding it was named Canton Christian College (). The Hackett Medical College for Women (夏葛女子醫學院, the first medical college for women in China) and its affiliated hospital known as David Gregg Hospital for Women and Children (), located in Guangzhou, China, were parts of a medical center that was founded by female medical missionary Mary H. Fulton (1854-1927). Fulton was sent by the Foreign Missions Board of the

Presbyterian Church (USA) The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PCUSA, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination in the Religion in the United States, United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States too. Its th ...

, with the support of the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, New York, of which David Gregg was pastor The college was dedicated in 1902 and offered a four-year medical curriculum. At the end of 1932, the medical center was registered and put under the control of the Chinese government. Furthermore, it affiliated with Guangzhou Hospital and Lingnan University to form the Sun Yat-Sen Medical College in 1936. Lingnan University was incorporated into Sun Yat-sen University in 1953 under the order of the Communist Party's government. Members of the university moved to

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and founded the Lingnan School in

Wan Chai Wan Chai (Traditional Chinese characters, Chinese: 灣仔) is located in the western part of Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It is bounded by Canal Road, Hong Kong, Canal Road to the east, Arsenal St ...

in 1967, which was relocated to Tuen Mun in the mid-1990s and renamed Lingnan University in 1999. In 1988, Lingnan College was reestablished within Sun Yat-sen University and is now one of the top schools of economics and management in China.

Rankings and reputation

Sun Yat-sen University is ranked as one of the top universities in China by all the most influential and widely observed international university rankings, for example, #7 nationwide in

Times Higher Education World University Rankings The ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'', often referred to as the THE Rankings, is the annual publication of university rankings by the ''Times Higher Education'' magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarelli Symon ...

2015, #6 nationwide in the

Academic Ranking of World Universities The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong Universi ...

2015, and #8 nationwide in U.S. News Global University Ranking 2015. The ''

Times Higher Education ''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The THES''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Ownership TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...

'' 2011 placed Sun Yat-sen University 171st in the world and 5th in China, and the university is regarded as one of the most reputable Chinese universities by the '' Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings'' where it ranked 151st globally. Sun Yat-sen graduates employability rankings placed at #191 in the world in the QS Graduate Employability Rankings. As of 2025, out of all universities worldwide, SYSU is ranked #72 by the

, #85 by the U.S. News Global University Ranking, #95 by the

Center for World University Rankings College and university rankings order higher education institutions based on various criteria, with factors differing depending on the specific ranking system. These rankings can be conducted at the national or international level, assessing inst ...

, #201 by the

., and #267 by the

QS World University Rankings The ''QS World University Rankings'' is a portfolio of comparative college and university rankings compiled by Quacquarelli Symonds, a higher education analytics firm. Its first and earliest edition was published in collaboration with '' Times ...

. The 2024 CWTS Leiden Ranking ranked SYSU 7th in the world by total publications and #31 in the world and #12 in Asia based on the number of their scientific publications belonging to the top 1% in their fields for the time period 2019–2022.

Nature Index

Nature Index tracks the affiliations of high-quality scientific articles and presents research outputs by institution and country on monthly basis. Regarding scientific research output, the

Nature Index The Nature Index is a database that tracks institutions and countries/territories and their scientific output since its introduction in November 2014. Originally released with 64 natural-science journals, the Nature Index expanded to 82 natural-sci ...

2024 ranked SYSU the No. 7 university in the Asia Pacific region, and 8th in the world among the global universities.

Academics

Statistics (2018)

Faculties and Schools

Sun Yat-sen University has made several adjustments to its academic departments throughout its history. Starting from the end of 2022, Sun Yat-sen University has implemented a three-tier academic governance system consisting of "University-Faculties-Schools (Departments)." As of now, the university comprises a total of 67 schools (including directly affiliated departments and teaching units), which are divided among seven faculties: the Faculty of Humanities, the Faculty of Social Sciences, the Faculty of Economics and Management, the Faculty of Natural Sciences, the Faculty of Engineering, the Faculty of Information Science and Technology, and the Faculty of Medicine. These schools are spread across five campuses.

Lingnan (University) College

Since 2015, Lingnan (University) college is also triple-accredited by AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA. The college is originated from

(), a renowned private university established by a group of American missionaries in 1888.

Affiliated hospitals

The university has the largest affiliated hospital system in China, including Sun Yat-sen University First Hospital, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital (or Sun Yat-sen University Second Hospital), Sun Yat-sen University Third Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University Fourth Hospital (has merged into the First Hospital), Sun Yat-sen University Fifth Hospital (or Zhuhai Hospital), Sun Yat-sen University Sixth Hospital (or Sun Yat-sen University Gastrointestinal & Anal Hospital), Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Sun Yat-sen University Stomatologic Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University Ophthalmologic Center, Sun Yat-sen University Seventh Hospital (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University Eighth Hospital (Shenzhen). All eight general hospitals, the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center and Sun Yat-sen University Ophthalmology Center are 3A class hospitals.

The First Affiliated Hospital, SYSU

The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University was established in 1910, initially called the Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Public Institution of Medicine. As a 3A hospital (the top level in China), the hospital is the largest and the most comprehensive one among all affiliated hospitals of SYSU, as well as one of the largest hospitals in the country. *Sun Yat-sen University First Hospital is ranked #2 in "Top 10 General Hospital in China" rankings.

Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, SYSU

Founded as Ophthalmic Hospital in Canton by American Peter Parker in 1835. It originally dealt with diseases of the eye, but later treated other ailments. It later became the Canton Hospital.

Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center

Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center is a level III (highest rank in China) and class A hospital. It was awarded as “key subject of China” in 2001. In 1980, SYSUCC was designated as

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

(WHO) Collaborating Center for research on cancer. Since 2003, SYSUCC became a sister institution of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. In 2004, SYSUCC has set up a joint laboratory with Karolinska Institutet of Sweden for research in immunotherapy, molecular virology and oncological epidemiology. *Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center is ranked #1 in "Top 10 Cancer Hospitals in China" rankings.

Sun Yat-sen University Ophthalmologic Center

Sun Yat-sen University Ophthalmologic Center is the first and leading advanced ophthalmic center and the last resort for advanced eye care in China, integrating eye care, teaching, eye research and blindness prevention. It is also one of the 20 largest general ophthalmic centers in the world. In 2006, Sun Yat-sen University Ophthalmic Center was approved to be the State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, the only one of its kind in China. *Sun Yat-sen University Ophthalmologic Center is ranked #1 in "Best Ophthalmologic Hospitals in China" rankings.

Sun Yat-sen University Libraries

The university's system of libraries is one of the largest in China. By December 2012, it held more than 6 million paper volumes, including periodicals.

The Hilles Collection

In June 2005, Harvard College Library of

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

donated 158,000 volumes in Hilles Library to Sun Yat-sen University. Developed over a century, the collection is composed of titles in the humanities and social sciences, primarily in English, but also in Western foreign languages.

Confucius Institutes

Sun Yat-sen University has established five Confucius Institutes since 2006: *The Confucius Institute at Ateneo de Manila University *The Confucius Institute in Indianapolis, established together with Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis *The Confucius Institute at Autonomous University of Yucatan *The Confucius Institute in Lyon, established together with Lumière University Lyon 2 and Jean Moulin University Lyon 3 *The Confucius Institute at

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

Research

Essential Science Indicators (ESI)

According to statistics of the Essential Science Indicators (ESI) database from January 2003 to February 2013, the total number of citations of papers in 15 disciplines of Sun Yat-sen University entered global top 1%. Following

Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...

, Sun Yat-sen University ranked 2nd in universities in China, tied with

Fudan University Fudan University (FDU) is a public university, national public university in Yangpu, Shanghai, Yangpu, Shanghai, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education (China), Ministry of Education and is co-funded with the Shanghai Municipal ...

Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) is a public university in Shanghai, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 98 ...

and

. The 15 disciplines include Chemistry, Clinical Medicine, Physics, Biology and Biochemistry, Materials Science, Molecular Biology & Genetics, Engineering, Plant and Animal Science, Environment/Ecology, Pharmacology & Toxicology, Neuroscience & Behavior, Mathematics, Microbiology, Agricultural Sciences, and Social Sciences, General.

Nature Publishing Index (NPI)

Nature Publishing Index shows both Research Articles (Articles, Letters & Brief Communications) and Reviews, published in Nature and/or Nature research journals. The rankings are based on the number of papers that were published during the last 12 months. In time range of 01.07.2013-06.30.2014, Sun Yat-sen University is ranked #5 among Chinese Universities.

Postdoctoral Research Stations

Sun Yat-sen University has 39 postdoctoral research stations.

Journals

Sun Yat-sen University publishes altogether 25 scholarly journals, including *Acta Scientiarum Naturalium Universitatis Sunyatseni *Journey of Sun Yat-sen University Social Science Edition *Journey of Sun Yat-sen University (medical science) *Diagnostic Imaging & Interventional Radiology (in Chinese) *Modern Clinical Nursing (in Chinese) *New Medicine (in Chinese) *Chinese Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases (in Chinese) *Chinese Journal of Cancer *Eye Science

Campuses

At present, the university covers a total area of , and has 5 campuses: Guangzhou South Campus (广州校区南校园) in Haizhu District, Guangzhou North Campus (广州校区北校园) in

Yuexiu District Yuexiu District is one of 11 urban districts and the seat of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China, located west of the Tianhe District and east of the Liwan District. It is the commercial, politic ...

, Guangzhou East Campus (广州校区东校园) in Panyu District, Zhuhai Campus (珠海校区), and Shenzhen Campus.

Guangzhou South Campus

The south campus of Sun Yat-sen University is located in Haizhu District, Guangzhou, and covers a total area of 1.17 square kilometers. It mainly hosts disciplines in sciences and humanities. Add: No. 135, Xingang Road West, Guangzhou 510275, P. R. China

Guangzhou North Campus

The North Campus is located in Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, and covers an area of 0.39 square kilometers. It is a campus mainly for disciplines in medical sciences. Add: No. 74, Zhongshan 2nd Road, Guangzhou 510085, P. R. China

Guangzhou East Campus

The East Campus is located at the north end of the Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center in Xiaoguwei, Panyu, and covers an area of 1.13 square kilometers. The Guangzhou University City is a major development made by the People's Government of Guangdong Province in an effort to implement the strategy of building Guangdong through science and education. The first batch of students started school there in September 2004. Add: Xiaoguwei Island, Panyu District, Guangzhou 510006, P. R. China

Zhuhai Campus

The Zhuhai Campus is located at Tang Jia Wan, Zhuhai City, and covers an area of 3.48 square kilometers. Freshmen and sophomores of some disciplines in liberal arts, natural sciences, and medical sciences are currently living and studying on campus with students from the School of Network Education and Continuing Education. Add: Tang Jia Wan, Zhuhai 519082, P. R. China

Shenzhen Campus

The Shenzhen Campus is located at Guangming District in Shenzhen City, and covers an area of 3.217 square kilometers, it's under construction from 2016 and proposed to open at September 2018.

Alumni

Since 2017, at least 36

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...

s graduated from Sun Yat-sen University, putting it the first place in the

South Central China South Central China, South-Central China or Central-South China ( zh, c = 中南, p = Zhōngnán, l = Central-South), is a List of regions of China, region of China. It consists of eight provincial administrative regions, namely Henan, Hubei, ...

region and 7th nationally. * Sonia Chan, 2nd

Secretary for Administration and Justice of Macau A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...

* George Chann, Chinese-American painter * Fang Fenglei, former deputy director of China International Capital Corporation and Chairman of

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...

China * Li Fanghua, physicist * Shiu-Ying Hu, botanist * Huang Huahua, former

Governor of Guangdong The governor of Guangdong, officially the Governor of the Guangdong Provincial People's Government, is the head of Guangdong, Guangdong Province and leader of the Guangdong Provincial People's Government. The governor is elected by the Guangdong ...

* Muzi Mei, blogger * Xu Ningsheng, 21st President of Fudan University * Xu Ze, politician * Xu Yinchuan, former world

xiangqi Xiangqi (; ), commonly known as Chinese chess or elephant chess, is a Strategy game, strategy board game for two players. It is the most popular board game in China. Xiangqi is in the same family of games as shogi, janggi, chess, Western ches ...

(Chinese chess) champion * Shou-Wu Zhang, Chinese-American mathematician * Yingying Zhang, researcher on photosynthesis and crop productivity * Zhang Huaicun, artist and writer of children's books * Guotai Zhou, major general of the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

* Ye Shuhua, prominent astronomer * Tsang Hin-chi, entrepreneur and politician, founder of the Goldlion Group * Lai Minhua, Director General of Macao Customs Service

References

External links

Official Website
*
The Guide to Red Brick Buildings 1: Public Buildings of the Early Architectural Complex on Honglok CampusThe Guide to Red Brick Buildings 2: Lodges of the Early Architectural Complex on Honglok Campus
{{authority control Universities and colleges established in 1924 Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center Haizhu District Project 211 Project 985 Sun Yat-sen Universities and colleges in Guangzhou Universities in China with English-medium medical schools Zhuhai Vice-ministerial universities in China 1924 establishments in China 1924 in Guangzhou